The average price of both petrol and diesel climbs to new records, again.

However, a note of good news is that wholesale prices have fallen. This offers some hope that prices may stabilise in the coming weeks.

New records

Diesel has risen 5p on average in two days, reaching a high of £1.67. Unleaded is now 159p a litre while diesel increased by another 2p to 167p – making for a rise of more than 5p in two days.

An average tank of petrol is now almost £88 while diesel has now gone over £92.

“Diesel unfortunately appears to be on a clear path to £1.70 a litre,” states RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams. “As this is an average price, drivers will be seeing some unbelievably high prices on forecourts”.

However, there is some positive news in the pipeline according to Williams, which could reduce the pressure. “A hint of better news yesterday on the wholesale market with substantial drops in both petrol and diesel,” he says. “This could lead, in a week or so, to a slight slowing in the daily pump price increases and records being broken less frequently.”

Demanding times

Oil prices have jumped more than 30% since February 24, touching $139 (£105) a barrel at one point this week.

The oil price had fallen back to about $106 a barrel at one point on Wednesday (March 9). It is. turbulent market, with worries over supply levels particularly with the war inUkraine. Sanctions on Russia will undoubtedly affect the supplies to the west. This is especially true when it comes to diesel. Trading today saw the price of a barrel of oil rise again to $114 today (Thursday, March 10).